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Anzu
Anzu is a fairly young Akyr with a mysterious past. He is the main character of The Black Oubliette. Appearance Anzu is a fairly below-average height male Akyr, even in his "human" form, standing around 5'6, with black fur and golden highlights on his tailtip and hair. He has a soft, fuzzy mane around his neck, upper chest, and shoulders, which he doesn't bother tucking into his coat because he feels as if it's too stuffy in the desert heat. Like all Akyr, even in his human form, he possesses pointed, fluffy ears and a long tail, as well as a sufficient amount of fur on his body, although there are clearly patches where the hair is less dense or nonexistant (such as his face and on part of his arms, back, thighs, face, and torso). His skin color is light brown and he has purple eyes, although the right eye has a cataract that makes is appear milky white. There is a horizontal scar on his nose and a scar going vertically down his left eye and on his lip. Anzu is sixteen when he is introduced. Akyr Form Anzu's Akyr form is much the same, except he is completely furred and has a long, beaklike snout and a maw filled with long, pointed teeth. He also has his wings out at all times in this form and he is physically stronger. Outfit Anzu's outfit is a fairly unusual one, even by Libra'um standards. He wears a tan, linen shirt underneath a leather coat and light tan baggy pants that go down to his knees. The shirt under his coat is noted to be in terrible shape, with several bloodstains and tears. The left sleeve has almost entirely been ripped off, with a small piece of fabric still left and the right has been hemmed so it does not tear further. On his left side, he wears a leather piece of armor that keeps his shoulderguard in place and was once used to keep a quiver on his back, which he states he no longer has in his possession. The golden insignia on the piece is that of the Devil-Maiden's Revenge, which was a crew of adventuring seafarers that Anzu's adoptive father's friend used to be part of. Around his waist is a piece of fabric with a light blue pattern on the front left side and around his right hip is a purple piece of cloth that obscures a knife belt. He wears plain leather boots. Anzu occasionally wears bandages on his left hand (which is his preferred hand) and on both of his forearms and calves. Personality Anzu is a rather unpredictable and sneaky individual, owing his continued survival to his wits and lack of an extremely rigid moral code. He is prone to being emotional, but is often very passive or dismissive when confronted. He is unambitious and seems to have no direction in his life, though he almost seems oblivious to this. He acts somewhat meek and cowardly, and very rarely tries to confront others, preferring to lay low and go with the flow. Anzu will not fight even at the risk of death. Instead, he employs other methods to avoid combat. Anzu is the type of person to 'live in the now', and tends little regard for the consequences of his actions and little forethought about the future. Some might believe he is unintelligent due to his somewhat carefree attitude regarding his life choices. He can be very spontaneous and acts adequately when put under pressure. He has a great ability to devise a plan quickly and act upon it, given the impetus. Anzu does not care much about notions such as 'honor' and is perfectly willing to lie, cheat, and steal to ensure survival. He has a troubled past, which he is deeply conflicted about and mostly refuses to discuss. Because of this, he does not often form close bonds with people and keeps others at a distance. That being said, Anzu is not the type to brood about how much he has suffered in life. Despite these qualities, Anzu does have some heroic traits, such as his loyalty to those close to him and willingness to go through hardship and pain to protect the people or things he finds some sort of value in, or even that which those people find value in. He can be very self-sacrificial regarding his devotion to those he shares a close bond with, and has extremely little regard for himself when he sees someone he cares about in pain. This trait is in sharp contrast to his survival skills. He is also not an outwardly malicious person towards others, despite his lack of tact or honor. He does not place a lot of value on superfluous material possessions or money, and in spite of him being a thief, he only does so for survival. Anzu is actually quite humble about his accomplishments and skills and does not expect thanks or reward for the good things that he does. Anzu is exceptionally insecure about his handicaps, both mental and physical, and often mistaken for a coward by others for his unambitious lifestyle, lack of honor, and inability to fight for things he claims he believes in. He often ignores his own issues in favor of other distractions, such as menial labor, and shuts out the nagging voice that tears at the corner of his mind... History be put here eventually. Much of Anzu's backstory is unknown, although he mentions that he was an orphan raised by a wingless Akyr named Akun'ma and his business partner 'Rokh', a half-human, half-Diatar male. They vanished mysteriously several months prior, something in which he attributes to the kidnappings that began to occur during that period. Anzu expresses this to Elana after rescuing her from a mix-up with the law. He states that he has been waiting for months, hoping like their other excursions, they would just return eventually, and hopes he was wrong about the kidnappings. However, the two begin to realize that there is more to Libra'um's strange kidnappings than meets the eye. Abilities Anzu has a distinct lack of any magical abilities in the beginning of the story, a peculiarity for the mostly magically adept Akyr, although this changes once the story gets going. That being said, he does possess some of the natural abilities of his race and a few proficiencies he gained through his life. ''Racial Abilities : 'Shape-shifting- ' Like all Akyr, Anzu can shapeshift in and out of his Akyr form. He can also shapeshift his wings so they appear in his human form, but since they mostly get in the way, he does not always have them out. Like other Akyr, he also can see in the dark and has a longer lifespan than that of a human. Magical Abilities : 'Incarnation of Chaos - 'Anzu, being the reincarnation of Chaos, possesses some of the abilities of his former life. However, he is not in full control of them. Due to this, it comes at an extreme risk, since he becomes intensely violent and unpredictable. He will outright disregard the safety of himself and others for the sake of combat. :: '''Rage State -' He enters an enhanced berserker's rage in which his physical strength and speed is multiplied many times over, at great physical and mental cost. He gains a red aura around his body and is forced into his true shape. While in this state, he has heightened combat prowess and senses. Anzu would normally be exceptionally crude and inexperienced when fighting in his base form or rely on trickery, however he is much more graceful and precise when under the influence of his own magic. That being said, he displays a much higher level of brutality, bordering on sadistic. He will toy with his opponents and extend the duration of the fight simply to fufill his bloodlust, a trait that contradicts his usual demeanor entirely. In fact, one could say that Incarnation Anzu seems like an entirely different character. Skills :: Marksmanship - Anzu at one point used to use a bow for hunting and was actually a decent marksman, although his skill is limited by his lack of depth perception due to the lack of vision in his right eye. :: Trivia *Anzu apparently cannot read, or at least cannot read well. However, he can read his name and write down the runes for it. He also understands and can read numbers. *He was born on the Winter Solstice, which would be the First Day of the month of Vlaustsol. This would not exactly properly coincide with Earth's solstice or dates, since there are sixteen months in the Aksyos calendar, thirty days each, and each season is four months long. Which means it takes 480 24-hour cycles for Aksyos to make a complete revolution around its sun. *Anzu's name was given to him canonically by Akun'ma. Meta *Anzu has gone through several names during the planning stages of the book; the first was Jack, but the writers didn't want him mixed up with another character; the second was Thunder, which was cycled out extremely fast; the third was Alcoth, which was simply a surname and he was never referred to by a first name; the fourth was Leo, which stuck until an incident in which the character was stolen; the final being the current, Anzu. *Anzu's name is a reference to the Sumerian demon, Anzu / Abzu / Zu, who was described as a bird monster or half-man, half-bird. In the myth, Anzu steals the Tablets of Destiny and was hunted by the gods for his treachery. ::